1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of gas cooking appliances and, more particularly, to the mounting of a gas burner to a ceramic based appliance cooktop.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
A conventional gas cooking appliance will incorporate a cooktop which is generally formed of coated metal or glass. The cooktop is provided with an opening for receiving a gas operated burner. More specifically, the gas burner projects through the cooktop and is typically, rigidly secured to a chassis of the appliance and either fixedly or loosely secured to the cooktop. Whether a rigid or loose connection is present, some type of sealing arrangement is often provided between the cooktop and the gas burner in order to seal the opening so as to enhance the cleanability of the overall appliance.
Other known gas appliances incorporate ceramic based cooktops, e.g., ceramic and glass-ceramic cooktops. Due to material characteristic limitations, the interior panel of such a ceramic based cooktop must be free to flex during use of the appliance. For at least this reason, either a loose connection or no connection at all is generally provided between a gas burner and a ceramic based cooktop, while a rigid connection is utilized between the gas burner and the appliance chassis. With such an arrangement, since the gas burner must still project through an opening in the cooktop, it is extremely difficult to provide an extremely effective seal around the burner unit.
Although some attempts have been made in the art to provide an arrangement wherein a gas burner is secured against a ceramic based cooktop, there exists a need in the art for an enhanced gas burner mounting assembly for use in connection with a cooking appliance incorporating a ceramic based cooktop, wherein the gas burner is fixedly secured to the cooktop in a manner which enables the burner to flex with the cooktop during use.